LOS
ANGELES – Creighton’s Anthony Bemboom
looked at a called third strike in frustration as Adam Plutko
threw up is hands in celebration 60 feet in front of him.
Plutko’s catcher embraced him as he stepped off the mound after
throwing a complete game two-hitter in No. 1-seeded UCLA’s
opening round win over fourth-seeded Creighton Friday night at
Jackie Robinson Stadium.

UCLA (43-14) did just enough in the early
innings, putting up three runs over the first two innings, to
give Plutko the cushion he needed. It was as if the right-hander
hit cruise control, pitching efficiently off his fastball in the
Bruins’ 3-0 victory. It was a poised performance for a pitcher
whose emotions were all over the place.

Just one day prior to making the start, Plutko
was attending the funeral of his great grandmother in San Diego.
Unable to even attend practice or travel to the ballpark with
his team, Plutko took the mound with a heavy heart. But as the
game wore on, his demeanor changed.

“It
was a lot of fun,” Plutko (left) said.

Plutko admitted the week has been “kind of a
whirlwind,” but with family from all over the country nearby for
the funeral, they were able to make the short drive up I-5 to
watch him get the ball. The result was a performance that
baffled the Bluejays and dazzled the crowd of 1,570. Plutko gave
up just two hits and struck out seven in his second complete
game shutout of the season.

“I thought that was his best outing of the year,”
UCLA head coach John Savage said.

“Coach and I talked before the game, and we
really wanted to attack them and make them prove they could hit
my fastball,” Plutko said. “We just attacked them and went right
at them and it kept working so we went back to it.”

While
Plutko attacked the Creighton hitters, the Bruins’ hitters took
an equally aggressive approach with highly-touted lefty Ty Blach.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, Jeff
Gelalich drove in a run with a solidly-hit double to the
left-center gap. In the second, Cody Regis sparked another
two-out rally with a single up the middle. Kevin Kramer (1 for 3
with a run and an RBI) and Beau Amaral (3 for 4 with an RBI)
then drove in runs with back-to-back doubles to give the Bruins
a 3-0 lead.

“Every pitcher knows it’s easier to pitch with a
lead than pitch from behind,” Plutko said.

“That’s something that we talked about a lot in
the beginning of the week, that we couldn’t afford to get behind
UCLA because of their strong pitching,” Creighton coach Ed
Servais said.

Blach
(left) then settled himself nicely after getting tagged for
three runs, and finished the game giving up just two more hits.
The southpaw struck out six in the loss, as he moved to 6-6 on
the season.

“I thought both pitchers were as good as
advertised,” Savage said. “That’s one of the hottest pitchers in
the country. When we saw the 4-seed, we knew we were getting a
guy.”

UCLA, ranked No. 2 in the country, will host
third-seeded New Mexico Saturday night, while Creighton (26-29)
will face No. 2 seed San Diego in an elimination game.